Cheap Home Theaters

A home theater system makes a great addition to any home. It is a place for the whole family to spend quality time while having fun. However, the cost of building and HDTV based home theater may add up quickly. Here are some tips to save some money and build a cheap home theater without compromising quality.

1)Plan a realistic budget

Planning a budget is perhaps the most important task to consider before planning to build a home theater. Failure to create a budget can make us lose perspective and end up spending more money that was intended. Sit the day before for a few minutes and write down how much money you can spend in a home theater without subtracting from important home priorities.

2) Determine what you really need.

Home theaters have basic components: the monitor in this case the HDTV set, speakers, media or disc players and connection cables. These are four basic components that every setup that qualifies as a home theater has. All the others are optional add ons and should not have top priority when trying to build a cheap setup. Add ons are can be given top priority of they are to be used very frequently or substitute one of the basic components.

2) Choosing an HDTV set.

Choosing an HDTV set is the most important aspect of any home theater. It is widely known that LCDs are cheaper than Plasma and most of the other HDTV display technologies out there except DLP. It is very important to consider the highest resolution that your chosen LCD can display including its native resolution. The higher the resolutions offered the higher the price. A 1080p capable television currently known as full HD is far more expensive than a 720p still not that necessary for building a fun home theater for the family. Make your decision according to your budget.

Another factor to consider is the brand. A good brand almost always guarantees a reliable product. While a trusted brand's product will be more expensive, it will provably save you from a few headaches. Last but not least and if not most important is screen size. This one is on the obvious side but it is important to be realistic and this is where budget planning is very useful. In other words, a bigger 720p LCD makes a better foundation in a home theater than much smaller 1080p Plasma HDTVs.

3) Choosing a disc player and speakers

A disc player is a must for any home theater. The current leader is BLU-Ray and can be substituted for a Play Station 3 if there any gamers in the house. If in fact you own a Play Station 3 you might just purchase the best speakers your budget allows or buy a bigger screen.

Speakers are better bought as a separate set rather than a BLU-ray and speakers combo. This way you can get better speakers and a better player for the same price. Keep in mind that speakers should be 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound ready in order to achieve the desired home theater surround sound environment.

4) Accessories and add ons

Accessories are mostly tuners, stands, recorders, cables and other connection gear. Quality cables can be purchased for cheap online. As for speaker stands, they must be purchased only if needed since they are generally used for positioning. Consider mounting your speakers on the walls of your room instead of stands. As for tuners, if the HDTV set has one built in forget about them completely instead with the money you will be saving choose an HDTV with a bigger screen. If in fact you are subscribed to any paid service you may even not need one in the first place. Finally recorders, if you were looking to build a cheap home theater system forget about them, they are not necessary in a home theater they are just a luxury.